Author 




Title 



•* *** 



Class 



IJLsMiO. 



Imprint 



Bo«k.iaaL 



16-—47372-1 opo 









THE 






Leland Stanford Junior 



university 



CIRCULARS i and 2 

[REPRINT ] 



PALO ALTO, CALIFORNIA 

PUBLISHED BY THE UNIVERSITY 
1891 



THE 



Leland Stanford Junior 



university 



v 







1< 



CIRCULARS i AND 2 

[REPRINT.] 



^KRY OF CO^^^ 

1892 

*2j> OF WA3HING1?^ 



PALO ALTO, CALIFORNIA 

PUBLISHED B V THE UNIVERSITY 
l39I 




Contents. 

The Act of the Legislature, ----- - 5 

The Grant of Endowment, - 10 

The Address of Leland Stanford, - - - - 23 

The First Meeting of the Trustees, ... 28 

The Laying of the Corner-Stone. - - - - 31 



The E?idowment Act. 



THE ENDOWMENT ACT. 



PROVISIONS UNDER WHICH THE GRANT IS MADE. 

AN ACT to advance tear ni?ig, the arts and sciences, and to pro- 
mote the public welfare by providing for the conveyance, hold- 
ing, and protection of property , and the creation of trusts for 
the founding, endowment, erection, and maintenance within 
this State of universities, colleges, schools, seminaries of learn- 
ing, mechanical institutes , museums, and galleries of art. 
(Approved March 9, 1885.) 
The people of the State of California, represented in Senate and 
Assembly, do enact as follows: 

Section i. The provisions of this act shall be liberally con- 
strued with a view to effect its objects and promote its purposes; 
and in the construction thereof the singular number shall be 
deemed to include the plural, and the plural shall be deemed to 
include the singular number, and the masculine gender shall be 
deemed to include the feminine. 

Sec 2. Any person desiring, in his life-time, to promote the 
public welfare by founding, endowing, and having maintained 
within this State, a university, college, school, seminary of learn- 
ing, mechanical institute, museum, or gallery of art, or any or all 
thereof, may, to that end and for such purpose, by grant in 
writing, convey to a trustee, or to any number of trustees named 
in such grant (and to their successors), any property, real or per- 
sonal, belonging to such person and situated or being within this 
State; provided, that if any such person be married and the prop- 
erty be community property, then both husband and wife must 
join in such grant. 

Sec. 3. The person making the grant may therein designate: 
(1) The nature, object, and purposes of the institution or institu- 



6 The Endowment Act. 

tions to be founded, endowed, and maintained. (2) The name by 
which it or they shall be known. (3) The powers and duties of 
the trustees, and the manner in which they shall account, and to 
whom, if accounting be required; but such powers and duties 
shall not be held to be exclusive of other powers and duties 
which may be necessary to enable such trustees to fully carry out 
the objects of such grant. (4) The mode and manner and by 
whom the successors to the trustee or trustees named in the grant 
are to be appointed. (5) Such rules and regulations for the man- 
agement of the property conveyed as the grantor may elect to 
prescribe; but such rules shall, unless the grantor otherwise pre- 
scribe, be deemed advisory only, and shall not preclude such 
trustees from making such changes as new conditions may from 
time to time require. (6) The place or places where and the 
time when the buildings necessary and proper for the institution 
or institutions shall be erected, and the character and extent 
thereof. The persons making such grant may therein provide for 
all other things necessary and proper to carry out the purposes 
thereof, and especially may such person provide for the trades 
and professions which shall be taught in such institutions, and 
the terms upon which deserving scholars of the public and pri- 
vate schools of the various counties of this State may be admitted 
to all the privileges of such institutions as a reward for meritor- 
ious conduct and good scholarship, and also for maintaining free 
scholarship for children of persons who have rendered service to 
or who have died in the service of this State, and also for main- 
taining free scholarship for children of mechanics, tradesmen, and 
laborers who have died without leaving means sufficient to give 
such children a practical education, fitting them for the useful 
trades or arts, and also the terms and conditions upon which 
students in the public and private schools and other deserving 
persons may, without cost to themselves, attend the lectures of 
any university established, and also the terms and conditions 
upon which the museums and art galleries and conservatories of 
music connected with any such institution shall be open to all 



The Endowment Act. 7 

deserving persons without charge and without their becoming 
students of the institution. 

Sec. 4. The trustee or trustees named in such grant and 
their successors may, in the name of the institution or institu- 
tions as designated in such grant, sue and defend in relation to 
the trust property and in relation to all matters affecting the 
institution or institutions endowed and established by such grant. 

Sec. 5. The person making such grant, by a provision there- 
in, may elect, in relation to the property conveyed, and in rela- 
tion to the erection, maintenance, and management of such 
institution or institutions, to perform during his life all the duties 
and exercise all the powers which by the terms of the grant, are 
enjoined upon and vested in the trustee or trustees therein named. 
If the person making such grant and making the election afore- 
said be a married person, such person may further provide that 
if the wife of such person survive him, then such wife during her 
life may, in relation to the property conveyed and in relation to 
the erection, maintenance, and management of such institution or 
institutions, perform all the duties and exercise all the powers 
which by the terms of the grant are enjoined upon and vested in 
the trustee or trustees therein named; and in all such cases the 
powers and duties conferred and imposed by such grant upon 
the trustee or trustees therein named shall be exercised and 
performed by the person making such grant, or by his 
wife, during his or her life, as the case may be ; provided, how- 
ever, that upon the death of such person or his surviving wife, as 
the case may be, such powers and duties shall devolve upon and 
shall be exercised by the trustees named in the grant and their 
successors. 

Sec. 6. The person making such grant may therein reserve 
the right to alter, amend, or modify the terms and conditions 
thereof, and the trust therein created, in respect to any of the 
matters mentioned or referred to in subdivisions 1 to 6 inclusive 
of section 2 hereof, and may also therein reserve the right, during 
the life of such person or persons, of absolute dominion over the 



8 The Endowment Act. 

personal property conveyed, and also over the rents, issues, and 
profits of the real property conveyed, without liability to account 
therefor in any manner whatever, and without any liability over 
against the estate of such person ; and if any such person be 
married, such person may in such grant further provide that if 
his wife survive him, then such wife, during her life, may have the 
same absolute dominion over such personal property and such 
rents, issues, and profits, without liability to account therefor in 
any manner whatever, and without liability over against the 
estate of either of the spouses. 

Sec. 7. The person making such grant may therein provide 
that the trustees named in the grant and their successors may, 
in the name of the institution or institutions, become the 
custodian of the person of minors, and when any such provision 
is made in a grant the Trustees and their successors may take 
such custody and control in the manner and for the time and in 
accordance with the provisions 01 sections 264 to 276 inclusive of 
the Civil Code of the State of California. 

Sec. 8. Any such grant may be executed, acknowledged, 
and recorded in the same manner as is now provided by law for 
the execution, acknowledgment, and recording of grants of rea 
property. 

Sec. 9. No suit, action, or proceeding shall be commenced or 
maintained by any person to set aside, annul, or affect said con- 
veneyance, or to affect the title of the property conveyed, or the 
right to the possession, or to the rents, issues, and profits thereof, 
unless the same be commenced within two years after the date of 
filing such grant for record; nor shall any defense be made to any 
suit, action, or proceedings commenced by the trustee or trus- 
tees named in said grant, or their successors, privies, or persons 
holding under them, which defense involves the legality of said 
grant, or affects the title to the property thereby conveyed, or the 
right to the possession of the rents, issues, and profits thereof, 
unless such defense is made in a suit, action, or proceeding com- 
menced within two years after such grant shall have been filed 
for record. 



1 he Endowment Act. 9 

Sec. 10. The property conveyed by such grant shall not, 
after the lapse of two years from the date of the filing for record 
of the grant, be subject to forced sale under execution or judicial 
proceedings of any kind, against the grantor or his privies, unless 
the action under which the execution shall be issued, or the pro- 
ceedings under which the sale shall be ordered, shall have been 
commenced within two years after such grant shall have been 
filed for record. Nor shall such property be subject to execution 
or forced sale under any judgment obtained in any proceedings 
instituted within said two years, if there be other property of the 
grantor subject to execution or forced sale sufficient to satisfy 
such judgment; provided, nothing in this section contained shall 
be construed to affect mechanics' or laborers' liens. 

Sec. i 1. Any person or persons making any such grant may 
at any time thereafter, by last will or testament, devise and be- 
queath to the State of California all or any of the property, real 
or personal, mentioned in such grant, or in any supplemental 
grant, and such devise or bequest shall only take effect in case, 
from any cause whatever, the grant shall be annulled or set aside, 
or the trust therein declared shall for any reason fail. Such 
devise and bequest is hereby permitted to be made, by way of 
assurance that the wishes of the grantor or grantors shall be car- 
ried out, and in the faith that the State, in case it succeeds to the 
property, or any part thereof, will, to the extent and value of 
such property, carry out, in respect to the objects and purposes 
of any such grant, all the wishes and intentions of the grantor or 
grantors \ provided, that no wish, direction, act, or condition, ex- 
pressed, made, or given by any grantor or grantors, under or by 
virtue of this act, as to religious instruction to be given in such 
school, college, seminary, mechanical institute, museum, or gal- 
lery of art, or in respect to the exercise of religious belief on the 
part of any pupil or pupils of such school or institution of learn- 
ing, shall be binding upon the State; nor shall the State enforce 
or permit to be enforced, or carried out, any such wish, direction, 
act, or condition. 

Sec. 12. This act shall be in force from and after its passage. 



io The Grant of Endowment. 

GRANT FOUNDING AND ENDOWING THE LELAND 
STANFORD JUNIOR UNIVERSITY. 



We, Leland Stanford and Jane Lathrop Stanford, husband 
and wife, grantors, desiring to promote the public welfare by- 
founding, endowing, and having maintained upon our estate 
known as the Palo Alto farm, and situated in the counties of San 
Mateo and Santa Clara, State of California, United States of 
America, a university for both sexes, with the colleges, schools, 
seminaries of learning, mechanical institutes, museums, galleries 
of art, and all other things necessary and appropriate to a univer- 
sity of high degree, to that end and for that purpose do hereby 
grant, bargain, sell, and convey to Lorenzo Sawyer, James McM. 
Shafter, Charles Goodall, Alfred L. Tubbs, Francis E. Spencer, 
Henry Vrooman, Charles F. Crocker, Timothy Hopkins, Henry 
L. Dodge, Irving M. Scott, William Ashburner, H. W. Hark- 
ness, Josiah Stanford, Horace Davis, John F. Miller, John 
Boggs, T. B. McFarland, Isaac S. Belcher, John Q. Brown, 
George E. Gray, N. W. Spaulding, of California; Mathew P. 
Deady, of Oregon; William M. Stewart, of Nevada ; and Stephen 
J. Field, a Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States — 
Trustees, and to their successors forever, all and singular the fol- 
lowing described real property. 

That certain tract of land situated in the county of Butte, State 
of California, and now commonly known and designated as 
Stanford's Gridley Farm. 

Also, that certain tract of land situated partly in the said 
county of Butte and partly in the county of Tehama, in said 
State, and now commonly known and designated as Stanford's 
Vina Farm. 

And, also, that certain tract of land situated partly in the 
county of Santa Clara and partly in the county of San Mateo, and 
now commonly known and designated as the Palo Alto Farm. 



The Gra7it of Endowment. 1 1 

Together with all the tenements, hereditaments, and appurte- 
nances thereunto belonging, with the water rights, water ditches, 
pipes, flumes, canals, aqueducts, and reservoirs now used in con- 
nection with either of said tracts of land; said tracts of land being 
more particularly described by metes and bounds in the paper 
hereto attached, marked "Schedule A," and made part hereof. 

To have and to hold said property and all other property, real 
and personal, which we, or either of us, may hereafter convey or 
devise to them or their successors, upon the trust that it shall con- 
stitute the foundation and endowment for the University herein 
provided, and upon the trust that the principal thereof shall for- 
ever remain intact, and that the rents, issues, and profits thereof 
shall be devoted to the foundation and maintenance of the Uni- 
versity hereby founded and endowed, and to the uses and pur- 
poses herein mentioned. , 

Now, therefore, further, in pursuance of said desire, and that 
the trust hereby created may be executed according to the wishes 
of the grantors and each of them, they do hereby, as it is pro- 
vided may be done by the act of the Legislature of the State of 
California, approved March 9, 1885, entitled "An act to advance 
learning, the arts and sciences, and to promote the public welfare, 
by providing for the conveyance, holding, and protection of 
property, and the creation of trusts for the founding, endowment, 
erection, and maintenance within this State of universities, colleges, 
schools, seminaries of learning, mechanical institutes, museums, 
and galleries of art, ' ' designate — 

I. 

THE NATURE, OBJECT, AND PURPOSES OF THE INSTITUTION 
HEREBY FOUNDED, TO BE: 

Its nature, that of a University, with such seminaries of learn- 
ing as shall make it of the highest grade, including mechanical 
institutes, museums, galleries of art, laboratories, and conserva- 
tories, together with all things necessary for the study of agricul- 
ture in all its branches, and for mechanical training, and the 



12 The Grant of Endowment. 

studies and exercises directed to the cultivation and enlargement 
of the mind. 

Its object, to qualify students for personal success and direct 
usefulness in life. 

And its purposes, to promote the public welfare by exercising 
an influence in behalf of humanity and civilization, teaching the 
blessings of liberty regulated by law, and inculcating love and 
reverence for the great principles of government as derived from 
the inalienable rights of man to life, liberty, and the pursuit of 
happiness. 

II. 

THE NAME OF THE INSTITUTION. 

Since the idea of establishing an institution of this kind for the 

benefit of mankind came directly and largely from our son and 

only child Leland, and in the belief that had he been spared to 

advise as to the disposition of our estate, he would have desired 

the devotion of a large portion thereof to this purpose, we will 

that for all time to come the institution hereby founded shall bear 

his name, and shall be known as "The Leland Stanford Junior 

University." 

III. 

THE NUMBER, QUORUM, AND DESIGNATION OF THE TRUSTEES. 

The number of Trustees shall be twenty-four, and fifteen 
thereof shall constitute a quorum, but the assent of not less than 
a majority of the whole, to wit, thirteen, shall be necessary for 
affirmative action in the execution of the trusts herein contained. 

The Trustees herein named, and their successors, in their 
collective capacity, shall be known and designated as "The 
Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University." 

IV. 

that the trustees (subject to the reservations and 
to the rights to alter and amend hereinafter con- 
tained) shall have power and it shall be their 
duty: 
i. To meet in the City of San Francisco on the fourteenth 



The Grant of Endowment. 13 

day of November, 1885, or as soon thereafter as practical, and 
then and there — a majority of their number being present — to 
organize as a Board by electing one of their number chairman, 
and to transact such other business as may be proper. 

2. To manage and control the institution hereby founded. 

3. To manage and control the trust property, care for and 
improve the same, operate or lease it, and apply the net 
proceeds or profits thereof to the purposes of the trust hereby 
created. 

4. To, in their discretion, receive grants of property from 
others in aid of the institution founded, or to establish scholar- 
ships therein, providing the same are made upon terms and con- 
ditions in harmony with the purposes of the institution as herein 
declared. 

5. To receive from the grantors, or either of them, by grant 
or devise, such other property as the grantors or either of them 
may hereafter elect to give, and to hold such property upon the 
same conditions and to the same uses and trusts as are herein 
prescribed. 

6. To make by-laws not inconsistent with the laws of this 
State, or the purposes of this grant, for the government of the 
institution hereby founded. 

7. To make rules and regulations for the management of 
the trust property. 

8. To keep a full and fair record of their proceedings. 

9. To appoint a President of the University, who shall not 
be one of their number, and to remove him at will. 

10. To employ professors and teachers at the University. 

11. To fix the salaries of the President, professors, and teach- 
ers, and to fix them at such rates as will secure to the University 
the services of men of the very highest attainments. 

12 To use the rents, issues, and profits of the trust company 
(but no part of the principal) in the execution of their trust, and 
in case such rents, issues, and profits, for any one year, exceed 



14 The Grant of Endowment. 

the amount necessary to execute the trust and maintain the in- 
stitution for said year, then to invest the same until its use be- 
comes necessary. 

13. To establish and maintain at such University an educa- 
tional system, which will, if followed, fit the graduate for some 
useful pursuit, and to this end to cause the pupils, as early as 
may be, to declare the particular calling, which, in life, they may 
desire to pursue; but such declaration shall not be binding if, in 
the judgment of the President of the University, the student is 
not by nature fitted for the pursuit declared. 

14. To prohibit sectarian instruction, but to have taught in 
the University the immortality of the soul, the existence of an 
all-wise and benevolent Creator, and that obedience to His laws 
is the highest duty of man. 

15. To have taught in the University the right and advan- 
tages of association and co-operation. 

16. To afford equal facilities and give equal advantages in 
the University to both sexes. 

17. To maintain on the Palo Alto estate a farm for instruc- 
tion in agriculture in all its branches. 

18. To do and perform all things hereinafter provided for, 
and all things necessary to the proper exercise and discharge of 
their trust. 

V. 

THE POWERS AND DUTIES OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE 

UNIVERSITY. 

It shall be the duty of the Trustees to give to the President of 
the University the following powers: 

1 . To prescribe the duties of the professors and teachers. 

2. To remove professors and teachers at will. 

3. To prescribe and enforce the course of study and the 
mode and manner of teaching. 

4. Such other powers as will enable him to control the edu- 
cational part of the University to such an extent that he may 



The Grant of Endowment. 15 

justly be held responsible for the course of study therein, and 
for the good conduct and capacity of the professors and teachers. 

VI. * 

THE FACULTY. 

The Trustees shall constitute the President and professors the 
Faculty of the University, and prescribe their powers and duties 
as such. 

VII. 

THE MANNER, AND TO WHOM, THE TRUSTEES SHALL REPORT. 

The Board of Trustees shall annually report all their proceed- 
ings to the person who, for the time being, shall fill the office of 
Governor of the State of California, and shall accompany such 
report with a full account of their financial operations for the pre- 
ceding year, and with a statement of the financial affairs of the 
institution. 

VIII. 

THE MODE AND MANNER, AND BY WHOM, THE SUCCESSORS TO 
THE TRUSTEES NAMED IN THE GRANT ARE TO BE APPOINTED. 

Any Trustee named in this grant, or the successor to any 
Trustee, may for good cause be removed by a proper court of 
equity jurisdiction, after notice to him, and upon the application 
of the grantors herein, or either of them, or upon the application 
of the Board of Trustees. 

Any Trustee named in this grant, or the successor of any such 
Trustee, may, in writing, addressed and delivered to the Board 
of Trustees, resign his office as Trustee, and every vacancy in 
the Trustees which shall occur during the lives of the grantors, or 
during the life of either of them, either from the failure of any 
Trustee named in this grant to accept the trust, or from death, 
resignation, or otherwise, shall be filled by the grantors, or either 
of them, as the case may be, and every vacancy occurring there- 
after shall be filled by the surviving or remaining Trustees, by 
ballot. 



1 6 The Grant of Endowment. 

IX. 

THE PLACE WHERE, AND THE TIME WHEN, THE BUILDINGS 
NECESSARY AND PROPER FOR THE INSTITUTION SHALL BE 
erected; CHARACTER AND EXTENT THEREOF. 

The Trustees shall : 

i. Within two years from the date hereof, select and lay off 
on the Palo Alto farm a site, and adopt a general plan, for the 
construction of the University buildings. Such buildings shall 
be plain and substantial in character and extensive enough to 
provide accommodations for the University and the colleges, 
schools, seminaries, mechanical institutes, museums, laboratories, 
conservatories, and galleries of art, part thereof. They shall be 
built as needed, and no faster, and in a manner which shall allow 
for additions and extensions from time to time, as the necessities 
of the University may demand, the Trustees bearing in mind 
that extensive and expensive buildings do not make a University; 
that it depends for its success rather upon the character and at- 
tainments of its faculty. In this behalf, and to the end that the 
endowment may not be wasted or impaired by the premature 
construction of expensive buildings, the Trustees shall be the ex- 
clusive judges, free from all interference from any source what- 
ever, of the time when buildings are needed, and of the time and 
manner of their construction, and of the time and manner of 
making addititions thereto. 

2. Lay off on the Palo Alto farm one or more sites for build- 
ings for the officers and employees of the institution, and erect 
and maintain thereon such buildings as may be necessary. 

3. Lay off on the Palo Alto farm one or more sites for dwell- 
ing-houses for parents or guardians and their families, and for 
such other persons as the board may direct, and erect 
thereon buildings and lease the same, or lease the land and per- 
mit the lessees to erect such buildings, on such terms and con- 
ditions as the board may direct. 

4. Lay off on said Palo Alto farm a lot of about ten acres, 
and suitably improve and maintain the same forever as a place 



The Grant of E?idownient. ij 

of burial and of last rest on earth for the bodies of the grantors 
and of their son, Leland Stanford, Junior, and, as the board may 
direct, for the bodies of such other persons who may have been 
connected with the University. 

5. Lay off on the Palo Alto farm a site for, and erect thereon, 
a church. 

X. 

THE SCHOLARSHIPS AND OTHER MATTERS CONNECTED THERE- 
WITH. 

The Trustees shall have power, and it shall be their duty: 

1. To establish and maintain, in connection with the Univer- 
sity, such a number of free scholarships as the endowment of the 
institution, considering all its objects, will justify. Such scholar- 
ships must be given either to those, who, by good conduct and 
study, have earned the right thereto, or to the deserving child- 
ren of those who, dying without means in the service of the State, 
or in the cause of humanity, have a special claim upon the good- 
will of mankind. 

2. To fix the terms and conditions upon which the students 
generally may be admitted to all or any of the privileges of the 
University. 

3. To fix the terms and conditions upon which the students 
of the public and private schools and other deserving persons 
may attend the lectures of the University, or engage in original 
research thereat, and the terms and conditions upon which the 
agricultural farms, laboratories, museums, art galleries, me- 
chanical institutes, conservatories, and other institutions, part of 
the University, shall be opened to deserving persons, without 
their becoming students thereof. 

4. To establish and have given at the University, by its ablest 
professors, courses of lectures upon the science of govern- 
ment, and upon law, medicine, mechanics, and the other arts and 
sciences, which shall be free to the post-graduates of the colleges 
of the University hereby founded, and to post-graduates of all 



1 8 The Grant of Endowment. 

other colleges and universities, and to all deserving persons, to 
the full capacity of the lecture rooms, under such rules and regu- 
lations as the Trustees may adopt. 

XL 

ELECTION OF THE GRANTORS TO CONTROL THE PROPERTY 
AND THE EXECUTION OF THE TRUST DURING THEIR LIVES, 
OR THE LIFE OF EITHER. 

The grantors, and each of them, do hereby, in accordance 
with the provisions of the aforesaid act of the Legislature, elect : 

i. In relation to the property hereby conveyed, and in relation 
to such other property as may hereafter be conveyed or devised 
by them or either of them, to said Trustees for the purposes of this 
trust, and in relation to the erection, maintenance, and manage- 
ment of the institution hereby founded, to perform during their 
lives all the duties and exercise all the powers and privileges 
which by the terms of this grant, are enjoined upon and vested 
in the Trustees therein named. 

2. That the survivor of either of said grantors shall, after the 
death of the other, and during the life of the survivor, in relation 
to all of said property, and in relation to the erection, mainte- 
nance, and management of the institution hereby founded, per- 
form all the duties and exercise all the powers and privileges 
which, by the terms of this grant, are enjoined upon and vested 
in the Trustees therein named. 

3. That upon the death of both grantors, then all such duties 

shall devolve upon, and all such powers and privileges shall be 

exercised by, the Trustees named in this grant, and by their 

successors forever. 

XII. 

RESERVATION OF THE RIGHT TO ALTER, AMEND, OR MODIFY 
THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF THIS GRANT, AND THE 
TRUST THEREIN CREATED, IN CERTAIN RESPECTS. 

The grantors hereby reserve to themselves, during their lives, 
and hereby reserve and grant to the one who shall survive the 



The Grant of Endowment ig 

other, during his or her life, the right to alter, amend, or modify 
the terms and conditions of this grant, and the trusts therein 
created, in respect to the nature, object, and purposes of the 
institution founded, the powers and duties of the Trustees ; the 
manner in which and to whom they shall account; the mode and 
and manner, and by whom, their successors shall be appointed; 
the rules and regulations for the management of the property 
conveyed; the time when, and the character and extent of, the 
buildings which shall be erected ; the right to provide for trades 
and professions which shall be taught in the institution, and the 
terms upon which scholarships shall be founded. 

XIII. 

RESERVATION OF OTHER RIGHTS. 

The grantors hereby reserve to themselves during their lives, 
and hereby reserve and grant to the one who shall survive the 
other, during his or her life : 

i. The right to absolute dominion over the personal property, 
which they, or either ot them, may hereafter give to said Trus- 
tees, or their successors, and over the rents, issues, and profits 
thereof. 

2. The right to absolute dominion over the rents, issues, and 
profits of the real property hereby granted. 

3. The right to improve, manage, and control the trust prop- 
erty, as if this grant had not been made; but this reservation does 
not include the right or power to sell or encumber any of the real 
property granted. 

All these rights, and all other rights reserved by and all powers 
and privileges given, or duties imposed upon, the grantors, or 
either of them, by the terms of this grant, shall be exercised, en- 
joyed, and performed by said grantors, or either of them, as the 
case may be, without let or hindrance, and free from all interfer- 
ence from any source whatever, and from all duty to report their 
action, and from all liability to account in any manner therefor, 



2b The Grant of Endowment. 

and from all liability for waste, loss, misappropriation, or for any 
act or deed whatever, by them or either of them, done or per- 
mitted. 

XIV. 

THE CUSTODY OF THE PERSONS OF MINORS. 

And further, in pursuance of said desire, the grantors hereby 
provide that the Trustees named in this grant, and their success- 
ors, may, in the name of the institution, become the custodian of 
the persons of minors, taking such custody in the manner, and 
for the time, and in accordance with the provisions of sections 264 
to 276, inclusive, of the Civil Code of the State of California. 

XV. 

LIMITATIONS UPON THE POWERS OF THE TRUSTEES. 

1. Neither of the Trustees herein named, nor their successors, 
shall have power to sell or convey the real property hereinbefore 
described and granted. 

2. The Trustees herein named, and their successors, shall 
serve without compensation. 

XVI. 

MISCELLANEOUS. 

The grantors hereby declare: 

1. That all the property hereby conveyed was acquired by 
them during coverture, and was, until this grant was executed, 
their community property, and for that reason, and because of 
their mutual desire to be associated in this undertaking, they, in 
accordance with the provisions of the aforesaid act of the Legis- 
lature, have joined in this conveyance. 

2. This grant, and all grants and devises hereafter made by 
the grantors or either of them for endowing and maintaining the 
institution hereby founded, shall be liberally construed, and 
always with a view to effect the objects and promote the purposes 
of the grantors as herein expressed. 



The Grant of Endowment. 2t 

In testimony whereof, the said Leland Stanford, and Jane 
Lathrop Stanford, his beloved wife, have hereunto set their 
hands and affixed their seals, at the city and county of San Fran- 
cisco, State of California, United States of America, this eleventh 
day of November, in the year of our Lord and Saviour one thou- 
sand eight hundred and eighty-five. 

Leland Stanford, 
Jane Lathrop Stanford. 

In the presence of Stephen T. Gage, E. H. Miller, Jr., Nicho- 
las T. Smith, Herbert C. Nash, and Creed Haymond. 



State of California, 

V eg 

City and County of San Francisco. 
On this fourteenth day of November, a. d. one thousand eight 
hundred and eighty-five, before me, Holland Smith, a Notary 
Public in and for said city and county, duly qualified, and acting 
as such, personally appeared Leland Stanford, known to me to 
be one of the persons whose name is subscribed to the foregoing 
instrument, and acknowledged to me that he executed the same. 
In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and affixed 
my official seal, at my office, in the city and county of San Fran- 
cisco, the day and year last above written 

Holland Smith, Notary Public, 

307 Montgomery Street. 



State of California, 

\ ss. 
City and County of San Francisco. 

On this fourteenth day of November, a. d. one thousand eight 
hundred and eighty-five, before me, Holland Smith, a Notary 
Public in and for said city and county, duly qualified and acting 
as such, personally appeared Jane Lathrop Stanford, known to 
me to be the person whose name is subscribed to the foregoing 
instrument, and therein described as a married woman, and upon 



22 The Grant of Endowment. 

an examination without the hearing of her husband, I made her 
acquainted with the contents of said instrument, and thereupon 
she acknowledged to me that she executed the same, and that 
she does not wish to retract such execution. 

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and affixed 
my official seal, at my office in the city and county of San Fran- 
cisco, the day and year last above written. 

Holland Smith, Notary Public, 

307 Montgomery Street. 



Note — "Schedule A," referred to in the foregoing grant, is annexed 
thereto and contains a complete description by metes and bounds and 
legal subdivisions of all the property granted. 

The undersigned Trustees named in the foregoing grant do 
hereby accept the trust thereby created. 

In testimony whereof, we have hereunto set our hands and 
seals this fourteenth day of November, in the year of our Lord 
and Saviour one thousand eight hundred and eighty-five : 

Lorenzo Sawyer, H. W. Harkness, 

James McM. Shafter, Josiah Stanford, 

Chas. Goodall, Horace Davis, 

Alfred L. Tubbs, John F. Miller, 

Francis E. Spencer, John Boggs, 

Henry Vrooman, T. B. McFarland, 

Chas. F. Crocker, Isaac S. Belcher, 

Timothy Hopkins, John Q. Brown, 

Henry L. Dodge, George E. Gray, 

Irving M. Scott, N. W. Spaulding, 

Wm. Ashburner, Wm. M. Stewart, 

Matthew P. Deady, Stephen J. Field, 

By Lorenzo Sawyer, By Lorenzo Sawyer, 
His Attorney in fact. His Attorney in fact. 



Mr. Stanford' s Address. 23 

MR. STANFORD'S ADDRESS. 



Following is the text of the address of Leland Stanford to the 
Trustees, at their first meeting, November 14, 1885: 

To the Trustees of the 

Leland Stanford Junior University: 

Gentlemen — In the trust deed providing for the endowment 
and organization of the University, the nature, objects, and pur- 
poses of the endowment are very generally stated. We deem it 
appropriate, however, to enlarge somewhat upon what is therein 
set forth. 

The reasons that impelled us to select the Palo Alto estate as 
the location for the University, are its personal associations, 
which are most dear to us, the excellence of its climate, and its 
accessibility. 

The deed of trust conveys, and at once irrevocably vests in 
you the title to all the real property described therein. 

The endowment of lands is made because they are in themselves 
of great value, and their proper management will insure to the 
University an income much greater than would be realized were 
their value to be invested in any reliable, interest-bearing security; 
again, they can never be alienated, and will, therefore, be an 
unfailing support to the institution which they are designed to 
benefit 

As a further assurance that the endowment will be ample to 
establish and maintain a University of the highest grade, we 
have, by last will and testament, devised to you and your suc- 
cessors additional property. We have done this as a security 
against the uncertainties of life, and in hope that during our lives 
the full endowment may go to you. With this in view, we have 
provided in this grant that you may take such other property as 
we may give to more fully carry out the objects of this trust. 

The Palo Alto farm furnishes a sufficiently diversified soil, with 



24 Mr. Stanford's Address. 

a topography which admirably fits it as a place for agricultural 
education. In time, also, a handsome income will be derived 
from the rental of desirable residences to parents and others who 
will choose the place as a residence on account of its social, in- 
tellectual, and climatic advantages. Of course, the Trustees will 
see to it that no objectionable people are allowed to reside upon 
the estate, and that no drinking saloons shall be opened upon 
any part of the premises. 

BROAD AND GENERAL IDEAS OF PROGRESS. 

It should be the aim of the institution to entertain and incul- 
cate broad and general ideas of progress and of the capacity of 
mankind for advancement in civilization. It is clear that to in- 
sure the steady advancement of civilization great care must be 
exercised in the matter of the general development of the great 
body ol the people. They need education in the fundamental 
principles of government, and we know of no text so plain and 
so suggestive as that clause in our Declaration of Independence, 
which declares that 'among the inalienable rights of man are life, 
liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, and that to secure these 
rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their 
just powers from the consent of the governed.' 

A government founded on such principles commands for the 
support and protection of individual rights the force of the whole 
people. With these principles fully recognized, agrarianism and 
communism can have only an ephemeral existence. 

The merely physical wants of civilized man are not much 
greater than those of the savage, but his intellectual wants are 
bounded only by his capacity to conceive. His wants, therefore, 
will always depend upon his advancement in civilization, and the 
demand for labor will be measured accordingly. The rapidity 
ot the communication of modern thought and the facilities for 
transportation make the civilized world one great neighborhood, 
in whose markets all producers meet in competition. The rela- 
tive compensation to the producer must depend upon his powers 
of production.' 



Mr. Stanford *s Address. 25 

DESIRES OF CIVILIZED SOCIETY. 

When we consider the endless variety of the wants and the de- 
sires of civilized society, we must fully appreciate the value of 
labor-aiding machinery and the necessity for having this of the 
best character. Too much attention, therefore, cannot be given 
to technical and mechanical instruction, to the end that from our 
institution may go out educators in every field of production. 

Out of these suggestions grows the consideration of the great 
advantages, especially to the laboring man, of co-operation, by 
which each individual has the benefit of the intellectual and 
physical forces of his associates. It is by this intelligent appli- 
cation of these principles that there will be found the greatest 
lever to elevate the mass of humanity, and laws should be formed 
to protect and develop co-operative associations. Laws with 
this object in view will furnish to the poor man complete pro- 
tection against the monopoly of the rich, and such laws properly 
administered and availed of, will insure to the workers of 
the country the full fruits of their industry and enterprise. 
They will accomplish all that is sought to be secured by the 
labor leagues, trades-unions, and other federations of workmen,, 
and will be free from the objection of even impliedly attempting 
to take the unauthorized or wrongful control of the property, 
capital, or time of others. 

Hence it is that we have provided for thorough instruction in 
the principles of co-operation. We would have it early instilled 
into the student's mind that no greater blow can be struck at 
labor than that which makes its products insecure. 

ARTICLES OF ENDOWMENT. 

While the articles of endowment prohibit sectarianism, they 
direct that there shall be taught that there is an all-wise, benevo- 
lent God, and that the soul is immortal. It seems to us that the 
welfare of man on earth depends on the belief in immortality, and 
that the advantages of every good act and the disadvantages of 
every evil one fellow man from this life into the next, there attach- 
ing to him as certainly as individuality is maintained. 



26 Mr. Stanford's Address. 

As to the manner in which this shall be taught and whence the 
confirmations shall be derived, we are not prepared to advance 
any thought other than that they may be sought from every 
available source that tends to throw light upon the subject. 

While it is our desire that there shall be no sectarian teaching 
in this institution, it is very far from our thoughts to exclude di- 
vine service. We have provided that a suitable building be 
■erected wherein the professors of the various religious demon- 
inations shall, from time to time, be invited to deliver discourses 
not sectarian in character. 

We deem it of the first importance that the education of both 
sexes shall be equally full and complete, varied only as nature 
•dictates. The rights of one sex, political or otherwise, are the 
same as those of the other sex, and this equality of rights ought 
to be fully recognized. 

We have sought to place the free scholarships upon the basis 
of right to the student. We think this important, in order that 
his dignity and self-respect shall be maintained, and that he may 
understand that in his political relations he is entitled to nothing 
he does not earn. 

With respect to the expenses of the students of the University, 
we desire that the Trustees shall fix them as low as possible. 

The articles of endowment are intended to be in the nature of 
a constitution for the government and guidance of the Board of 
Trustees, in a general manner, not in detail. We hope that this 
institution will endure through long ages. Provisions regarding 
details of management, however wise they may be at present, 
might prove to be mischievous under conditions which may 
arise in the future. 

In the deed of trust we have designated the purposes of this 
University. The object is not alone to give the student a tech- 
nical education, fitting him for a successful business life, but 
it is also to instill into his mind an appreciation of the blessings 
of this government, a reverence for its institutions, and a love for 
God and humanity, to the end that he may go forth and by pre- 



Mr. Stanford'' s Address. 27 

cept and example spread the great truths by the light of which 
his fellow-man will be elevated and taught how to attain happi- 
ness in this world and in the life eternal. 

THE GROWTH OF TIME. 

We do not expect to establish a University and fill it with 
students at once. It must be the growth of time and experience. 
Our idea is that in the first instance we shall require the estab- 
lishment of colleges for both sexes; then of primary schools, as 
they may be needed ; and out of all these will grow the great 
central institution for more advanced study. 

We have fixed the number of Trustees as twenty-four, that 
the institution may have the strength which comes from numbers. 
There is little danger of divided counsels, for the Educational 
Department will be under the control of the President of the Uni- 
versity, who will have and exercise all the power necessary to 
make him responsible for his successful management. In order 
that he may have the assistance of a competent staff of professors 
we have provided that the best talent obtainable shall be pro- 
cured, and that liberal compensation shall always be offered. 

We are impressed with the deep responsibilities of this under- 
taking, and invoke at all times your aid and the Divine help 
and blessing. During our lives we hope that we shall be com- 
pelled to make little draft upon the time of you, gentlemen, mem- 
bers of the Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior 
University, yet we trust that you will be ever ready to assist us 
with your counsel. 



2h> First Meeting of the Trustees. 

MINUTES OF THE FIRST MEETING OF THE BOARD 

OF TRUSTEES. 



San Francisco, Saturday, November 14, 1885, | 

At twelve o'clock, m. J 

Pursuant to the invitation of the grantors, a meeting of the 
Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University was held at 
the time and place above mentioned in the library of the resi- 
dence of Leland Stanford, in the city and county of San Fran- 
cisco, State of California, 

Thefe were present of such Trustees : 

. Lorenzo Sawyer, 

Charles Goodall, 

Alfred L. Tubbs, 

Francis E. Spencer, 

Henry Vrooman, 

Charles F. Crocker, 

Timothy Hopkins, 

Henry L. Dodge, 

Irving M. Scott, 

William Ashburner, 

H. W. Harkness, 

Josiah Stanford, 

Horace Davis, 

John Boggs, 

T. B. McFarland, 

Isaac S. Belcher, 

John Q. Brown, 

George E. Gray, 

N. W. Spaulding, 

W. M. Stewart, 
The meeting was called to order, and upon motion, Lorenzo 
Sawyer was chosen Chairman of the Board of Trustees, and H. 
C. Nash, Secretary, pro tern. 



First Board of Trustees. 29 

Leland Stanford, and his wife, Jane Lathrop Stanford, were 
then presented to the members of the Board of Trustees, and 
thereupon they delivered to the Trustees the grant made by 
them, duly executed and acknowledged, founding and endow- 
ing the Leland Stanford Junior University. 

Upon motion of Mr. Spencer, the following resolution was 
adopted: 

Resolved, That the Trustees receive said grant, and accept 
for themselves and their associates the trusts therein imposed." 

On motion of the Chairman, the following resolution was 
adopted : 

"Resolved, That the Secretary be authorized for and as the 
act and deed of the Trustees to have the grant herein properly 
recorded on the records of the counties of Tehama, Butte, San 
Mateo, and Santa Clara, State of California. " 

On motion of Mr. Vrooman, the Trustees adjourned to meet 

at the call of the Chairman. 

Lorenzo Sawyer, Chairman. 
H. C. Nash, Secretary. 



TRUSTEES. 



The Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior Univer- 
sity are as follows: 

Lorenzo Sawyer, one of the presiding Judges of the United States Cir- 
cuit Court, San Francisco. 

James McM. Shafter, San Francisco, lawyer, formerly State Senator, 
and ex-President of the State Agricultural Society. . 

Charles Goodall, San Francisco, of the Pacific Coast Steamship 
Company, tormerly a representative of San Francisco in the Legisla- 
ture. 

Alfred L. Tubbs, merchant, St. Helena, Napa County, formerly a State 
Senator from San Francisco. 

Francis E. Spencer, Judge of the Superior Court, San Jose, and for- 
merly a Representative from Santa Clara County, in the Assembly. 
Henry Vrooman, lawyer, and State Senator from Alameda County. 



30 First Board of Trustees. 

Charles F. Crocker, San Francisco, Vice-President of ths Southern 
Pacific Company. 

Timothy Hopkins, San Francisco, Treasurer of the Southern Pacific 
Company. 

Henry L. Dodge, San Francisco, merchant, formerly a State Senator, 

from San Francisco, and ex-Superintendent of the Mint. 
Irving M. Scott, San Francisco, of the Union Iron Works. 
William Ashburner, San Francisco, Regent of the State University. 

Dr. H. W. Harkness, San Francisco, of the Academy of Sciences of 
San Francisco. 

Josiah Stanford, viniculturist, Warm Springs, Alameda County. 
Horace Davis, merchant, San Francisco,, ex-Member of Congress from 

San Francisco. 
John F. Miller,. Napa, United States Senator from California. 

John Boggs, farmer, Colusa, formerly State Senator from Colusa, a 
Director of the State Agiicultural Society, and of the Board of Prison 
Directors of the State. 

Hon. T. B. McFarland, Sacramento, formerly in the Legislature of the 
State from Nevada County, and at present a Judge of the Superior 
Court of Sacramento. 

Isaac S. Belcher, Marysville, formerly of the Supreme Bench of Cal- 
ifornia. 

John Q. Brown, Sacramento, Mayor of Sacramento. 

George E. Gray, San Francisco, ex-Chief Engineer of the Southern 
Pacific Railroad Company. 

N. W. Spaui.ding, manufacturer, Oakland, ex-United States Sub-Treas- 
urer, and Grand Treasurer of the Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted 
Masons of California. 

Matthew P. Deady, Portland, presiding Judge United States Circuit 
Court of Oregon. 

Willtam M. Stewart, Virginia City, ex-United States Senator from 
Nevada. 

Stephen J. Field, Washington, Justice of the Supreme Court of the 
United States at Washington, D. C. 



Prayer. 3 1 



LAYING OF THE CORNER-STONE. 



The corner-stone of the Leland Stanford Junior University 
was laid on May 14, 1887, by Senator and Mrs. Leland Stan- 
ford, at Palo Alto, Santa Clara County, California. 

The Rev. Horatio Stebbins, D. D., a member of the Board of 
Trustees of the University, offered the following prayer — 

Almighty God! We confess with revering awe Thy being 
and power, and dominion, and glory. Above all Thy works 
Thou art in inaccessible light and eternal life. In devout acclaim 
of praise and prayer, we lift up our voice to Thee, holy, holy, 
holy, Lord God Almighty, who wast, and art, and art to 
come! When Thou didst appoint the foundations of the earth 
and lay the corner-stone thereof, wisdom was with Thee, as one 
apprenticed unto Thee, the morning stars sang together, and all 
the sons of God shouted for joy! Thou didst take counsel of no 
man that he should instruct Thee, or teach Thee in the path of 
judgment, or teach Thee knowledge, or show Thee the way of 
understanding. Thou hast measured the waters in the hol- 
low of Thy hand, meted out the heavens with a span, compre- 
hended the dust of the earth in a measure, weighed the moun- 
tains in scales, and the hills in a balance. When we consider 
Thy heavens the work of Thy fingers, the moon and the stars 
which Thou has ordained, what is man that Thou art mindful of 
him, and the son of man that Thou visitest him? Thou hast 
made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him 
with glory and honor. Thou hast made him to have dominion 
over the works of Thy hands; Thou hast put all things under 
his feet; there is a spirit in man, and the inspiration of the Al- 
mighty giveth them understanding. 



32 Laying of the Corner-Stone. 

Thou source of intellectual rays! Fountain of moral inspira- 
tion! We adore Thee, and bow humbly down, and lift up our 
heads, unabased, in presence of Thy works of world, or sun, or 
moon, or star, and rejoice with humble, grateful joy that Thou 
hast made us partakers of Thine own nature. In the name of 
that nature, in the name of man. Thy Son, we implore Thy 
blessing now upon the work of our hands, and upon the intents 
of our hearts. We lay this stone, this precious corner-stone, 
chosen of the builders as a sure foundation, in Thy name and in 
our name, and consecrate it with all the work that may be reared 
upon it to Thy spirit and the mind of man. With mingled love 
and grief and gratitude, we would write upon the pile that shall 
be reared here and upon the sky above, and upon the earth be- 
neath, that youthful name to which, baptized in tender human 
sorrow, we would give an earthly immortality, while his spirit 
dwells with God in eternal life; and may that name be a token 
of good to mankind forever. To this end we humbly consecrate 
our earthly successes, and implore Thee to receive the gifts that 
we lay at Thy feet. 

O God, from whom all holy desires, all good counsels, and all 
just works do proceed, give good success, and establish Thou 
the work ol our hands; and may wise master builders and skilled 
workmen of God build from generation to generation upon the 
foundation which Thou hast laid. 

Thou, who art God, were all the nations dead, send down Thy 
blessing upon our commonwealth, the State of California; upon 
the Governor and the people, and may all human interests have 
the gracious benediction of heaven. Stretch forth Thine arm of 
protecting power and peace over our common country, assuag- 
ing human passions and kindling the beams of intelligence, rea- 
son, and virtue. 

Let Thy blessing ever be on Thy servant, the President of the 
United States, to the end that the nation's life shall be rooted in 
everlasting righteousness, freedom used with reverence, power 
exercised with justice toward the strong and with generosity toward 



Address of Judge Sawyer. 33 

the weak. Let our strength. and stability be in wisdom and knowl- 
edge; let industry be rewarded by upright gain, wealth used with 
wisdom and moderation, and may no successes of worldly pride, 
or power, or knowledge lead us to forget Thee, the Almighty 
Maker and Inspirer, on whom we depend — and unto Thee be honor 
and glory, dominion and power, forever and forever. Amen. 



Judge Lorenzo Sawyer, President of the Board of Trustees, 
then delivered the address of the day. 

ADDRESS OF JUDGE LORENZO SAWYER. 

Founders, a?id the Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford 
funior University \ and Ladies and Gentlemen: — I regret that a 
short notice, and the pressure of official duties have rendered it 
impossible, were I otherwise competent, to prepare an address 
worthy this great occasion. 

We have met to perform a great and interesting public duty. 
We have assembled, at the request of the founders, to lay the 
corner-stone of an edifice — the first of a series — for the use of 
the Leland Stanford Junior University — a University which, it 
is hoped, in the near future, when more fully developed, will be 
second to no institution of learning in the land. That it may be 
such, is the ardent desire of its founders; and to secure that 
grand result the University has been so munificently endowed as 
to attract the attention and call forth the admiration of the world. 
All this has been done while those making the endowment yet 
live — while ambition for further acquisitions is usually still ac- 
tive in the human breast. 

The founders of the contemplated University, very properly 
and very wisely, resolve to themselves, personally, carry out the 
great plans they have formed, and see that their designs are 
duly executed and the desired results attained. The nature, 
objects, purposes, and scope of the coming institution may be 
best stated in the concise language of the founders, as set forth 



34 Laying of the Corner- Stone, 

in their deed of trust: ''Its nature, that of a University, with such 
seminaries of learning as shall make it of the highest grade, in- 
cluding mechanical institutes, museums, galleries of art, labora- 
tories, and conservatories, together with all things necessary for 
the study of agriculture, in all its branches, and for mechanical 
training; and the studies and exercises, directed to the cultivation 
and enlargement of the mind. Its object, to qualify students for 
personal success, and direct usefulness in life. And its purposes, 
to promote the public welfare, by exercising an influence in be- 
half of humanity, and civilization, teaching the blessings of lib- 
erty, regulated by law, and inculcating love and reverence 
for the great principles of government as derived from the inalien- 
able rights of man to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." 
To what nobler objects, what more beneficent purposes, what 
grander work, can human energies and the accumulations of a 
successful business life be devoted ? 

It will be seen by this brief statement of the nature, objects, 
and purposes of the foundation, that the ultimate scope of the in- 
stitution, when fully developed, is of the broadest and most 
comprehensive character; that it embraces the whole range of 
human instruction, human knowledge, and human research; and 
contemplates affording the means for still further research, dis- 
covery, and advancement in knowledge. 

It contemplates preparatory and academic instructions; collegi- 
ate instruction in various colleges, such as colleges of letters, of 
law, medicine; of technical colleges, and institutes for instruction 
in the various mechanical, and fine arts ; and the pursuit of post- 
graduate studies, and research appropriate to a university proper 
of the highest grade. It is especially designed to give instruc- 
tion in those mechanical arts, the exercise of which tends to 
ameliorate the condition and contribute to the elevation and hap- 
ness of mankind at large — such as agriculture and the various 
mechanical pursuits. 

The ample donation of means; the location within an hour's 
ride of the metropolis of the Pacific States; and the amount of 



Address of Judge Sawyer. 35 

territory set apart for the sole, special immediate use and occupa- 
tion ot the University, not including the large domain exclusively 
appropriated to the purposes of affording revenue, are on a scale 
corresponding with the extent and grandeur of the conception. 
The tract of land thus set apart and forever devoted to the uses 
of the University, upon which we are now about to lay the corner- 
stone of the first of a series of edifices to be erected for its accom- 
modation, contains more than thirteen square miles^ all of which 
is admirably adapted to the requirements of the various depart- 
ments, and, especially, those of agriculture, and the mechanic 
arts. There is ample room for all departments of the grandest 
of institutions of the kind to work harmoniously together; The 
fitness of the location for the contemplated purposes is pointed 
out and the objects more fully developed in the address of the 
donors to the Trustees made at the time of the execution of the 
deed of trust, after the organization of the Board, to which ad- 
dress reference for further information is made. 

Should the plans of the founders of the Leland Stanford Junior 
University be successfully carried out, there is no calculating the 
benefits that must necessarily accrue, not only to the State of 
California but to the entire nation and to mankind at large. 
Who can estimate or conceive the influence of such institutions 
as Harvard and Yale, or even of the hundreds of lesser note, 
upon the intellectual, moral, and material wellbeing and prosper- 
ity of our vast country ? Or of such institutions as Oxford and 
Cambridge, not only upon the destinies of England but of 
Europe and of the entire human race ? It is the cultivation of 
letters and of the various arts and sciences through such agen- 
cies, that elevates civilized and enlightened man and places him 
upon the plane so far above the savage. That people which 
carries its educational institutions to the utmost point of perfec- 
tion and of usefulness attainable is the people that rises to the 
highest plane of human existence and happiness. 

The little grove in the suburbs of Athens which Academus 
presented to the Athenians, constituted the academy in which 



36 Laying of the Corner- Stone. 

Socrates and Plato, and their disciples, taught their pupils phil- 
osophy, rhetoric, logic, poetry, oratory, mathematics, the fine 
arts, and all the sciences, so far as then developed. The influence 
emanating from those schools, notwithstanding their limited re- 
sources, has been largely felt through all succeeding ages; and 
it has to this day given direction to thought and contributed 
largely to mold the characters and the civil institutions of all the 
peoples of Europe, and their descendants in America and 
wheresoever else they may be found on the face of the earth. 
The people of that little Republic of Attica — the whole area of 
whose territory was only about two-thirds as large as that of the 
county of Santa Clara, in which our coming University is located 
— exercised a greater influence over the civilization, institutions, 
and destinies of modern nations, than any other people however 
great. 

The groves of Palo Alto — the tall tree — are much larger than 
"Academus' Sacred Shade." These sturdy, umbrageous oaks, 
with Briarean arms ; these stalwart, spreading laurels, and these 
tall eucalypti are much grander and more imposing than the 
arbor- tenants of the grove at Athens. The soil of Palo Alto is 
far richer and more productive than that of Attica ; it yields as 
fine wheat, as delicious figs, grapes, olives, and other fruits. Its 
scenery is almost as grand and awe-inspiring, and quite as pic- 
tursque. Its climate is as dry, equable, and delightful. The 
arroyo de San Francisquito is as flush and turbulent in winter, 
if — although abundantly supplied for all purposes of the Univer- 
sity above — as waterless in its lower reaches in summer, as the 
two rivulets Cephissus and Ilissus. The transparent clearness 
and coloring of our sky is as "matchless" as that of Attica; and 
the azure dome above our heads, by day or night, is as pure 
and as brilliant as the ''Violet Crown of Athens." All our 
conditions are equally favorable to health, to physical and men- 
tal development, and to physical and mental enjoyment. Not an 
hour in the year is so cold as to interfere with mental, or phy- 
sical labor, nor an hour so hot as to render one languid, indis- 



Address of Judge Sawyer. 37 

posed to physical or mental exertion, or as to dull the edge of 
thought. There is not a place in our broad land, outside our 
own beloved State, where one can perform so much continuous 
physical or mental labor, without weariness or irksomeness. 
Should the plans of the founders of the Leland Stanford Junior 
University be carried out, in accordance with their grand con- 
ceptions, with such advantages as the location and climate 
afford, why should not students be attracted to its portals not 
only from California but from all other States of our vast coun- 
try, now containing 60,000,000 of people; and even from foreign 
lands ? What should prevent this University from becoming, in 
the great future, the first in this, or any other land ? When fully 
developed, who can estimate its influence for good upon the des- 
tinies of the human race ? 

A word to the founders of the Leland Stanford Junior Uni- 
versity. It is fit that the corner- stone of this edifice should be 
laid on the anniversary of the birth of him who, while yet a 
mere youth, first suggested the founding of a university — a sug- 
gestion upon which you have nobly acted and to the establish- 
ment of which you have devoted so large a portion of the accum- 
ulations of a most energetic, active, and trying life. It is 
eminently fit, that an institution founded and endowed on that 
suggestion should bear his name. The ways of Providence are 
inscrutable. Under divine guidance, his special mission on earth 
may have been to wake and set in motion those slumbering 
sentiments and moral forces which have so grandly responded 
to the impetus given, by devoting so large a portion of your 
acquisitions and the remainder of your lives to the realization 
of the objects thus suggested. If so, his mission has been nobly 
performed, and it is fit that both his name and the names of 
those who have executed his behests should be enrolled high 
upon the scroll of fame, and of the benefactors of the human 
race. You have wisely determined, during your lives, to man- 
age and control for yourselves the funds of the foundation; to 
supervise and direct the arrangement and construction of the 



38 Laying of the Corner- Stone. 

buildings, and the required adjuncts, and to superintend and give 
direction to the early development and working of the new- 
University. This is well. He who conceives is the one to 
successfully execute. May you remain among us, to manage and 
control this great work, until you shall see the institution founded 
by your bounty, firmly established ou an immovable basis, en- 
joying a full measure of prosperity, affording the citizens of vour 
adopted State the educational advantages contemplated, and 
dispensing to all the blessings and benign influences that 
ought to flow from such institutions. Long may you enjoy the 
satisfaction afforded by hopes fully realized — Seri in coelum 
redeatis. 

Fellow-members of the Board of Trustees of the Leland Stan- 
ford Junior University, in accepting this grand trust you have 
assumed the most weighty responsibility, not only to the 
founders of the University but to the children and youth of the 
commonwealth and to their posterity in all time to come. You 
have assumed the guardianship of the vast inheritance to which 
they have fallen heirs. In the near future, and thenceforth till 
time shall be no more, the duty will devolve upon us and our 
successors to administer this inheritance in such manner as to 
accomplish its great ends. I call to mind no instance where so 
large an estate has, at one time, been devoted by the same per- 
sons to the foundation of a single institution of a similar character 
— certainly, none to take effect during the lifetime of the donors. 
Since our organization, other lands with ample water rights and 
facilities have been added to the estate at Palo Alto, especially 
dedicated as the situs and future home of the University ; so 
that the tract, now, embraces about eight thousand four hundred 
acres. The estate at Vina, set apart for all time as a source of 
revenue, embraces about fifty-five thousand acres, of which 
some four thousand acres are planted in vines, already in bearing, 
and the remainder is devoted to various other agricultural and 
.grazing purposes. The Gridley estate, at this time devoted 
largely to the production of grain, embraces an area of about 



Address of Judge Sawyer. 39 

twenty-two thousand acres. Since our organization, at an ex- 
pense of nearly $100,000, a winery has been erected at Vina 
and furnished with vats, casks, and other appliances for making 
and handling 300,000 gallons of wine — the products oi the vine- 
yards—and other wineries and their necessary adjuncts are now 
in course of construction, sufficient to afford facilities for the 
manufacture and handling of 1,000,000 gallons. These improve- 
ments are in pursuance of the statement, made in their address 
upon the organization of the Board of Trustees, wherein the 
founders of the Leland Stanford Junior University say: "As a 
further assurance that the endowment will be ample to establish 
and maintain a University of the highest grade, we have, by last 
will and testament, devised to yon and your successors additional 
property. We have done this as a security against the uncer- 
tainty of life and in the hope that during our lives the full en- 
dowment may go to you." The aggregate of the domain thus 
dedicated to the founding of the University, is over eighty-five 
thousand acres, or more than one hundred and thirty-three 
square miles, among the best improved and most valuable lands 
in the State. 

The contemplation of these facts will suggest some idea of the 
magnitude of the responsibilities resting upon us and our suc- 
cessors. It will not only be our duty to so administer this 
trust as to accomplish to the utmost extent possible the desired 
end, but also as the institution is developed by time and its 
needs become greater than its resouces, as they well may not- 
withstanding the present munificent endowment, it will become 
the further duty of the Trustees to seek an enlargement of its 
means by influencing other public-spirited individuals of wealth 
to add to its funds, by founding particular colleges or depart- 
ments, or contributing to enlarge the general fund. The income 
of Harvard from property and tuition, is now about $400,000 per 
annum, considerably more than half of which is derived from its 
investments of funds received from time to time from donations 
by benevolent and public-spirited citizens. That of Oxford and 



40 Laying of the Corner- Stone. 

Cambridge amounts to some millions per annum. So in the 
great future, with the rapidly increasing millions of our people, 
the large amount so nobly given to this University may become 
wholly inadequate to its wants. In that event, or even in 
anticipation of its occurrence, it will be the duty of the Trustees 
at all times to seek additional endowments. With our means of 
rapid and cheap communication, it will be far better to concen- 
trate future benefactions upon the maintenance of one great and 
as near as possible perfect University suitably located in a 
healthy and invigorating climate, than to scatter and fritter them 
away in feeble, isolated, and fruitless efforts. 

Fellow Trustees, some of us are already well advanced in 
years. While it will at all times be our duty and, I trust, our 
pleasure to give when desired such aid and counsel as we may 
to those who conferred the trust, it is not at all improbable that 
many of us will never be called upon to engage very actively in 
a substantial execution of that trust. Two of our number have 
already responded to the final summons. The place of one has 
been, and that of the other doubtless soon will be, wisely filled 
by the founders of the University. But in the due course of na- 
ture the active execution of the trust will, sooner or later, de- 
volve upon some of us and the successors of the others, after 
which all vacancies will be filled by the remaining members of 
the Board. In supplying such vacancies, great care should be 
taken to secure men in the prime of life; men of energy and fixed 
determined purpose; men of intelligence, large attainments, broad 
views, and sound judgment and discretion ; men of large finan- 
cial and administrative ability; and, above all, men thoroughly 
imbued with the spirit that prompted the foundation of the 
Leland Stanford Junior University, and in full and active sym- 
pathy with all its purposes and aims. With such men always to 
manage and carry out these great trusts, we may confidently 
predict an ultimate triumphant consummation of the object sought. 
Should we succeed in establishing and fully developing the new 
University in accordance with the conception and purposes of 



Address of Judge Sawyer. 41 

its founders — as succeed we must with proper efforts and proper 
management, and with the aid and blessing of the Omnipotent 
and All-wise Being who created all things and without whose 
approval we can accomplish nothing — its power for good will go 
on from age to age to the end of time increasing and expand- 
ing till no corner of this broad earth will be beyond its human- 
izing, elevating, and benign influences. Invoking the Divine 
blessing on our work, let all put forth a united, continued effort 
to secure a consummation so devoutly to be wished. When this 
shall have been done, and the Leland Stanford Junior University 
shall have been once securely established upon a firm and stable 
basis, we may exclaim with unhesitating confidence that the idea 
will be fully realized — esto perpetual 



On the conclusion of the address the corner-stone was laid by 
Senator Stanford, the choir singing the hymn beginning "Heirs 
of unending life." 

The 19th Psalm was then read by Dr. Stone, of the Episcopal 
Church, and the ceremony concluded with the benediction, de- 
livered by the Rev. J. E, Scott, Pastor of the Presbyterian Church 
of Menlo Park. 



